Who lost Gettysburg

[whitworth]

He said so, and that is the greatest evidence of all.

Lee gave two reasons for attacking the Union lines at Gettysburg after the first day. One was egress for his army; the other supplies.

"At the same time we were unable to await an attack, as the country was unfavorable for collecting supplies in the presence of the enemy, who could re-strain our foraging parties by holding the mountain passes with local and other troops."
R.E. Lee
Gettysburg OR

A large army of the time, with all its horses and mules, needed a constant supply, and a large amount of forage for the horses and mules, in addition to water. Lee saw the limited number of farms in the area, and the difficulty of foraging parties moving away from their army.

[trice]

Originally Posted by ole

Thanks for the kind words (the beard comes off today). Question for you or any others who might care to comment: Say Pickett's men break through and divide the Union army. What happens then?

I simplistically believe that he is surrounded by some highly irritated veteran fighters. Instead of the remnants retreating, they are rounded up and sent off as POWs.

What do you think?

As things worked out (i.e., the prep work by the artillery hadn't hit the front line Yankees hard enough), even a successful breakthrough by Pickett leaves his force weak and disorganized, highly vulnerable to a counter-attack.

The solution to that is to have another force advancing behind them to reinforce success. Lee wanted one, but either his subordinates blew it or the troops were simply not available. As a result, the only thing left to do if the attack does break through is to wave the entire Confederate force forward (like Wellington at Waterloo when he sees the Old Guard falling back) and hope that your soldiers can win it for you.

OTOH, the rising Confederate artillery had shot up the area behind the ridge thoroughly and had the effect of isolating the front line. If you can imagine a breakthrough and some sort of reinforcements, there isn't a lot immediately in front of Pickett. If Union panic set in with a rush to the rear, who knows?

Regards,
Tim

[VS on the belt plate]

CW1865: and LOL

Whitworth: Thanks for info. So since he was short of forage/etc. He struck the Feds. Well,he wanted to meet them and defeat them certainely. I think it is just as easy to blame our great General for the defeat of the ANV...because of this desire on it's own. If he had an abundance of supplies I suppose he might have fought elsewhere. I dont think anyone is right or anyone is wrong on this point.

What's the saying? Victory has many fathers...defeat is an orphan.



VS

[cw1865]

That is one of the things about Gettysburg, its filled with what-ifs and controversies.

[rebeldawg_csa]

It is often said of Robert E. Lee that he was the greatest General of the Civil War, but I for one disagree and I also lay all the blame on Lee for losing Gettysburg. He made the same misteak that Burnside had made at Fredricksburg less than a year before. Lee knew what a frontal assault would do from first hand experience, and yet he marched Pickett's division to their death. I think Longstreet's and Hood's suggestion of moving around the right of Little Round Top would have worked, but who is to know. One thing we do know, Lee's plan didn't work !!!

Rebel dawg

[whitworth]

because he asked too much of his army.

Lee said so.

[cw1865]

If you look at most of the battles in the Civil War, it seems that the Confederates are just one division away from having a total victory. No matter what battle it seems to be!

[larry_cockerham]

Originally Posted by whitworth

because he asked too much of his army.

Lee said so.

Confederate success at Gettysburg depended on a very well coordinated strike on the center of the Union line. Precise timing which might have worked once in ten tries. Even with all the pieces falling in place, the loss would have been tremendous. Not one of Lee's better days. Yes, he asked too much. I suspect Lee was trying to end the brutal war, one way or the other.

[ole]

You have this nasty habit of nailing it, Larry. Please stop. You make the rest of us look bad.

ole

[larry_cockerham]

If anyone should have been severely chastised for Gettysburg, it was Napoleon of France. All those silly lines contributed to several thousand deaths unnecessarily. Once the battle started, all present were losers. There could be no winner in a field of death. The Algonquin or Iriquois, dumb as they were, knew better.